


Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?

by BasilGrey



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: (but not genre Werewolf), (more like Trust Issues and Inconvenient Family Situations werewolf), Character Study, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I'd love to see Lance and Eugene fighting off a werewolf hunter!, Lance & Eugene mention, Look I might be wrong but gUYS I really love this idea, Surrogate Siblings, Tangled Season 3 Speculation, Werewolf, written pre-episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 23:30:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20956730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BasilGrey/pseuds/BasilGrey
Summary: Red and Angry are back in Corona—this time, to stay.Red isverynervous they’ll be sent right back out.





	Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?

**Author's Note:**

> Just a theory about the upcoming episode "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?". The episode summary says that when Red and Angry come back to Corona permanently, their stay becomes a nightmare when a werewolf starts plaguing the town.
> 
> We get a new voice actor listed for a werewolf hunter named Creighton, too! But it made me wonder... Red and Angry don't seem to want to stay in one place for long. They were shown living in a cliffside cave during their first episode. (Edit: Never mind; that was the Silent Striker treasure stash cave. xD Still, they were living somewhere out there!) Why would a werewolf appear in Corona as soon as Red and Angry decide to stay permanently?

  
The moon was large and nearly full.

The silver wash of light flooded in through the two girls' castle window, making everything feel much brighter and darker than it should have been. Angry was tucked under the thick sheets, head on her pillow as she stared at the wall. Red, however, sat perched on the end of the bed, her shoulders hunched.

Not that this was a _problem_, but it was making it difficult for Angry to sleep.

"You should get some rest, Red," Angry mumbled, half into her pillow. "We have a good bed again."

To be perfectly honest, sleeping on a good bed was something neither of them were used to, and that too was making it hard for her to get comfortable. But Red liked soft things a _lot_. She'd loved their big fluffy bed last time they were here—that probably wasn't the problem.

Red just gave a tiny mumble in response.

Angry propped herself up one one arm to glance over at her friend.

Red was sitting on the end of the bed, legs draped over the foot of the bed frame. She had her hands clasped in her lap, cupping the wilted remnants of her favorite blue flower. The moonlight had spread across most of the bed, but she sat just out of it, in the shadows by Angry's feet.

"We're safe here," Angry reminded her friend, feeling an inkling of concern wash over her. "Remember? They really care about us. It'll be okay."

Red just hunched her shoulders a little further and ducked her head. Her hands cupped around the flower, obscuring it from view.

Angry watched for a moment. Then, with a small internal sigh, she sat up and pushed down the covers.

She crawled down to sit beside her friend. Red flinched a little, but otherwise didn't move.

"I don't think it's full yet," offered Angry, trying to make sure her voice was gentle. "I looked when it came up. It's not all the way round."

Red dipped her head and hugged herself tightly.

"...It feels like it is," she said in a very small voice.

Of course, Angry couldn't argue much about how the moon _felt_, so she just frowned a little and dropped her gaze. It didn’t always happen on the full moon. Sometimes it was a little before, or a little after.

They sat in silence for a minute, and Angry couldn't help but feel a little lost and out of place now, sitting on such a huge and decorated bed. They'd been given the same guest room as before—one just down the hall from Eugene and Lance. It wasn't as ornate as most of the castle, but it was still... _fancy_, as Lance liked to say.

Finally, when Angry couldn't stand the lonely silence anymore, she glanced sideways at her friend.

"It'll be okay," she said quietly. "It's not that scary."

Red looked away a bit, hiding her face behind a curtain of red hair.

Angry waited quietly for a long minute. It usually took a while for Red to say what she really thought.

The windows were open just a crack to let the breeze in, and the long curtains fluttered in the wind. It cast odd shadows in the pool of moonlight on the floor below them.

"...What if they don't like us after?" Red suddenly whispered, her voice small and desperate. She looked over at Angry, blue eyes glistening. "What if we lose them too?"

Something like overwhelming sadness twisted inside Angry, the kind she hadn't felt in a long, long time. The kind you didn't feel unless you might lose someone new you really cared about.

But it didn't... _really_ matter, not that much. They'd been brave by themselves for a really long time. The people here had tried to teach them what it was like to have a real family—so Angry, at least, would hold those people to what they'd taught.

"If _they_ don't like you even though you're nice, then _they_ don't really care about us," Angry said with a tone of finality, even though the idea hurt, on the inside. Part of her _knew_ better than to trust people all the way. People, _especially_ grown-ups, changed their minds and got mad way too easily. But...

She thought of Eugene, who got exasperated and forcibly cheerful and annoyed but had never quit trying to help them. He seemed honest, for someone who had been a thief. She and Red made him frustrated sometimes—they didn't _mean_ to, and they didn't _want_ to; they just didn't know if they could trust him. But any time they told him what they were doing or thinking, he would forget everything else while he listened.

She thought of Lance, and how much he seemed to adore Red, and how much happier Red always got to see him. Red was small—taller than Angry, but she still felt smaller, somehow. She'd been so happy to have the friendship and protection of someone who was so big, but gentle, like her.

Red slowly put her hands back in her lap and opened them up, revealing the very crumpled flower.

"I _think_ they like us," Red said softly, so softly that her voice wavered. "But I'm scared. What if I hurt them?"

Angry scooted a little closer, until their arms were pressed against each other. She wasn't fond of actual hugs, but this felt like a _sorta_-hug, and it always helped Red if she stayed close. "You've never hurt me," she pointed out simply.

"Yeah," Red said, with a little almost-hiccup, like she was swallowing a tiny sob. "B-Because I trust you. You wouldn’t try to hurt me."

That tugged at something in Angry's chest, and since they were alone anyway, she put an arm around her trembling friend. Red gulped and leaned into her, trying to take steady breaths.

They'd been best friends for years and years. That was way too many moon-months for either of them not to be used to the routine by now. Usually, Red wanted to go off by herself when it happened—even though Angry insisted it wasn't scary, it was kind of cool.

Tonight, she must've needed a hug. She didn't _really_ have anywhere else to go, unless they wanted to sneak out again.

"That's 'cause I'm your family," Angry decided, because that's what they'd learned from that weird monkey all those months ago. Eugene and Rapunzel had told them that, too. "And they promised to be our family, too. So... trust them, okay?"

Red took a deep breath, and afterward, went very still.

"Okay," she whispered back.

The moonlight slowly crept across their laps.

Red started to shiver—just barely at first, then harder. She ducked her head, trying to hide a grimace as all her muscles tensed.

Angry could only put both her arms around her friend—her _sister_—tightly in a hug, her gaze falling to the floor.

_Please let us be able to trust you_, she prayed, hoping somehow, at least Lance would get the message. And Eugene. And the nice princess, and the King and Queen, _please_— _Nobody else wants us around. The orphanages are all too scared of us._

Red let out a tiny cry, and suddenly threw herself onto Angry in a desperate hug. Her hands clawed into her back, but Angry didn't mind.

"It's okay," Angry whispered, feeling her own eyes get a little moist. "You're not that scary. I promise."

**Author's Note:**

> Update: This was written about a week before the episode aired. I've since seen the episode, and hey hey hey! I had some parts right! (I should've suspected that Red wasn't always a werewolf when I rewatched Big Brothers of Corona after writing this—during the scene where Angry looks out the castle window and sees Weasel, the first thing she does is look up at the full moon. The camera then changes angles to show Red, who was sleeping contentedly in her bed during that full moon. Foreshadowing? I think so!)
> 
> I definitely have a LOT of writing planned for this awesome show! (I don't tend to get new favorite shows easily, but I discovered this series a few months ago and _wooow_. Fun, clean, respectful, beautifully-animated fantasy cartoon with awesome characters and an epic plot? Do you have any idea how few of those there are?? I'm in LOVE)
> 
> Thanks for reading! I should have at least a few more oneshots out in the next couple of months. If you like, let me know what you think! <3


End file.
